The Canoe, A Love Story

 It all started back some 13 years ago, I was retired and as there was little to do, my wife Maureen said, why not write a book. I had to think about it, I could write about my time in the Royal Navy, or back to my old school days. Then Maureen mentioned Malta, I had taken her there on a weeks holiday, and over the years that followed, we went back every year, we stayed in the same hotel, but as things got more expensive, we sort of stayed in England, however, the writing idea became more and more planted in my brain, so I went ahead and this is my story, the story is true to some extent, those who have been to Malta will recognise the places in the book, and I have used the people's names that I knew, so here goes, hope you like it.

                                                             The Canoe, A Love Story

This is the story of teenage love, the love between a boy and his canoe. The girl on the bus that he falls in love with, its the story of an Island in the middle of blue seas where the sun shines all year round and people are friendly and cheerful.

 This is the story of Mike and Nann on the Island of Malta. The love they shared with the hobby they shared. It's the story of two people being together, then parted by circumstances. Being reunited by pure luck and a little help by two devoted fathers.

It's a story of pain, but most of all its a story of love, from the first kiss to there first child, from saying hello to saying I do. And all the way through, there is this green and white 14-foot craft, that gives them the confidence to prove to themselves and each other that they are good for each other. Giving them the wisdom to make what they have work. Not only in fun, but in life.


                                                  Chapter One

They all stood in wonder, there sat on the bench, her green paint shining under the workshop lamps, her white woodwork gleaming. Mike looked at his mum and dad and said, "Well that's the last coat of paint, four in all," Dad nodded and replied, "yes Mike, good job done, all we have to do now is let it dry and harden, and then we can take it home."

There was no name for the new toy, Mike was 14 and Kelvin his brother was 12, all they knew was, that over the last 10 weeks they had cut screwed and glued, and produced through hard work a beautiful 14 foot two man canoe.

It had been there mother's idea to begin with, she felt that her two boys should have something to keep them occupied during the long hot summer months.

The Palmer's had moved to Malta from Hanger Lane near London England back in the November, Ken Palmer was a Cheif Petty Officer in the Royal Navy and had been posted to Malta. A beautiful Island in the Mediterranean Sea approximately 65 miles from Sicily.

From day one, the whole family fell in love with the place, the people were friendly and couldn't do enough for them. The weather was beautiful, and there always seemed to be cloudless skies and warm sunshine, and the sea, the sea was light blue and clear, so clear and clean you could see the bottom of the creeks and rocky shoreline. Both Mike and Kelvin were swimming in the sea over the first Christmas that they were there. The locals probably thought them mad, but to the two brothers, this weather was like an English summer.

They went out there by aeroplane, the first time the family had flown together. Ken Palmer had flown back from Japan after the Korean war, but that was some years previous. The flight out was by Eagle Airways on a DC3, on the runway at Blackbush airport the plane looked huge, there were 30 passengers on the flight out, taking seven and a half hours. The flight would stop at Nice to refuel.

The family boarded the plane and were given seats behind the cockpit, on the ground the plane was at an angle, this was because there were two wheels under the wings and one at the tail, the seats faced the rear, so on the ground, you were sat awkwardly, however, once in the air you were sat normally.

The plane took off from Blackbush and climbed in steps to 10,000 feet which was its cruising height, but the flight to Nice was terrible, there were storms all the way, and apart from flying upside down the aeroplane was being buffited all the way, flying at 10,000 feet meant that if you hit an air pocket, the aircraft would drop almost 2,000 feet before the captain and crew could keep her on track, and as on leaving England the aircraft was frozen up, this meant that any use of the toilets on board was out of the question, even the coffee and tea came from a flask and was lukewarm.

And as for a sightseeing trip, this didn't take place until well into the flight, and the family saw nothing but cloud until they reached the western end of France, they were all to sick to be interested in what was happening outside, all they wanted were those sick bags. But as the clouds melted away and the ground could be seen in patches of green and small towns and villages appeared, all onboard felt much better. With regards the Alps the view was wonderful, the aircraft didn't fly over them, it flew through them, and as the sky cleared and the flight got smoother, the Palmer's were able to see houses, roads, even mountain passes as clear as clear. then as the pilot us we were getting ready to land at Nice suddenly everyone recovered from there sickness, the poor flight attendant Miss Bolton went through the aircraft picking up sick bags, 29 in all, the only person not sick was Kelvin, he for some reason known only to himself the only one on the aircraft able to eat his inflight meal and drink his tea, he even sucked on a sweet for landing so that his ears would not be painful. Then as the aircraft made the perfect landing at Nice and all the passengers got off leaving the Palmer family to join them, Kelvin bless his cotton socks calls Bboobb at the top step of the landing steps, and like a good boy, he covers every step in inflight meal, crisps cup of tea and the sweet he was sucking for landing. The French ground crew were not happy and said so in their native tongue, the skipper was the best, as he stood and watched, he was heard to say to his crew, "Well done son, that's one load of shit we don't have to carry any further 

The stopover at Nice was for two hours, it was nice to get off the aircraft, everyone was tired and needed to freshen up , and to be honest the inside of the aircraft smelt horrible. In the airport lounge there was a chance of a drink and something to eat, to replace what had been lost on the flight, not that the Palmer family were into French food, so it was a case of egg rolls and a very sweet apple tart with cream.

The flight on to Malta was fantastic, below could be seen ships on the water and above blue skies as far as the eye could see. Fron Nice to Malta the flight was over water all the way, but as the height of the aircraft was still 10,000 feet then looking down on the shipping in the Med helped pass the time. At one stage in the flight Ken, Mike's father pointed out a couple of destroyers who seemed to be alongside each other, Ken said he thought they were in the prosses of doing a transfer at sea, as the family watched, Ken explained that a rope was passed between the two ships so that men and stores could be transferred while the two ships could still keep moving towards there destination, which in this case could be Malta or Cyprus. As Mike watched in total fascination, the two destroyers parted company, one doing a full circle, then ending up astern of its sister ship. As Mike and his father watched, Mike asked why, and was told,  and was told that the first destroyer was in charge as it's captain was senior, like his dad said, "I am head of this household, so you all follow me." Mike nodded, "I see," he said, "Your the senior, " Ken smiled, "got it in one son," he said.

Landing in Malta the family were taken to a hotel called the Adelaide. the hotel was very nice, it was across the main road from the sea, and with the weather being like a British summer, both Mike and Kelvin spent their time in the sea off the rocks below the hotel. The food in the hotel was terrible, every morning they had corn flakes with goats milk, and scrambled eggs that looked like they had been cooked in water, and the evening meal was just as bad, the family lived on bananas and other fruits with a skin that had to be pealed. So within a couple of weeks, the family moved into a first floor flat in Sliema, this was a private hire, and we as a family only stayed there for a few months, then were moved into a naval flat in Peita . We were in the hiring for our first Christmas away from England, it felt funny, as Mike said sat around the table for Christmas dinner, Which Dorothy had cooked using two oil heaters and an oven that sat on the top of one of them, the whole family sat down to roast chicken with stuffing, roast potatoes and fresh vegetables followed by Christmas pudding and brandy sauce. Sat back in their seats at the table hardly able to move Ken leaned over to his wife and kissed her cheek, "That was the best Christmas dinner ever," he said, "Well" Dorothy said, "If that's the best, you wait until next year when we will be in married quarters with all mod cons," Ken laughed, "well," he said, "only 364 days to wait.

The flat at Peita was huge, both Mike and Kelvin had their own bedrooms and although the main bedroom was at the front with a large balcony that looked out across Peita creek and up the road towards Valletta the capital of Malta, looking out towards the sea could be seen Manoel Island where ken was stationed.

Life was pretty good for the whole family, the boys had friends at school and things to do close to where they lived, but mother felt that they should have some sort of adventure hobby, something that would turn them from boys into teenagers, so it was decided by both parents that on Tuesday nights and Thursday nights the whole family would go to St Andrew's barracks and do handicraft classes, and this was how after ten weeks they were stood looking at there new canoe.

At the beginning of the operation, Mike got very bored with the way things were going, but as he saw the canoe taking shape, he became more and more determined to get it finished.

And now it was, and he realised how beautiful she looked, he was very happy, Even the hobbies instructor came to view the finished article, and then he dropped the bombshell. "How do you paddle it around," he said, then mother put her hand to her mouth to stifle the laugh. "We forgot the paddles," she said, so while Mike and Kelvin cleaned the paintbrushes, there mother and father, with the help of the instructor made paddles, two singles and a double.

As the family climbed into there car for the journey home, they could not wait for the Saturday to come when they could pick up the canoe and bring it home.

The next four days passed very slowly, all Mike could do after school was sit on the balcony watching the traffic pass by, it was nice to see all the buses in there different colours driving along the creek road, then changing down a gear to climb the hill into Floriana and Valletta, and then Kelvin would call from the car park, the two Maltese Brothers from the shop wanted to play football so Mike would join them and once again it was England v Malta for the world cup. After an hour of play, the Maltese lads would be called into tea and as it was there ball the game would end, Kelvin and Mike climbed the hill through the trees to the old fort and look for lizards and scorpions to tease.

Evening meal was around six o clock, and afterwards, the family would sit on the balcony under dark warm skies watching the local people of Malta go about there business, men would head for the local bars and romancing couples would head for the park across the road, where on park benches under the lamplight they would sit and talk in whispers, in the hope that his or her mother who had accompanied them as chaperone would not hear what was said, and if a kiss was stolen by him then you would hear the cough of disapproval. And as the Palmer's as a family watched what was taking place they all wondered how long it would be before this sort of behaviour would stop, it seemed crazy that grown people had to be watched and stopped from holding hands or kissing when they were in love, and yet, this was the local church talking, this was the local priest saying, I cannot kiss women so why should you and as they could see it worked. Even talking about love seemed to be a grave sin in the 50s, and yet the Maltese people are a loving people, they are family orientated to the extent that their families come first after the priest? What he says is an unwritten law and must be obeyed  without question, and those people that did question it were pushed out, left to survive alone

This the Palmer's found hard to understand, father who was a true churchgoer accepted it, as did kelvin, though he was too young to understand, but mother and Mike were of the same opinion, that this sort of thing in the 20th century was barbaric and inhuman. So they sat in the darkness and listened, and made their feelings felt.

chapter two tomorrow, if you like it.

Comments

Heatherbell said…
Fabulous really taking me back in time, thank you.
Martin P said…
Excellent read Mike, leaves us wanting more - the mark of a good author. Hope it will keep us going all winter !
BruceW said…
Great read Mike - Thanks. Brought back a lot of memories. Flew to Malta out of Blackbush (age 10) on a Vickers Viking, 8th Feb 1957 - also stopping at Nice for refueling. Sick bags much in use but I was too excited to even think about being sick. Look forward to reading more from you......

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